Alice Cunningham of Olympic Hot Tubs [INTERVIEW]

I had the chance to interview Alice Cunningham of Olympic Hot Tubs. Alice Cunningham, the founder and co-owner of Olympic Hot Tub, has built one of the most successful and award-winning hot tub retail operations in the United States.

In 1977, she and her husband sold their house, cashed in their savings and decided to start their own wood hot tub business together. The slow, struggling start in the late 70′s blossomed into a booming business and now Alice has become a recognized person in the industry. She prides herself on providing excellent customer service to her customers and has embraced the internet to spread her helpfulness by maintaining a blog and a twitter account.

What is the one thing about the industry that you love the most?

Helping people relax. Putting a smile on customers’ faces. Hearing them say that buying the hot tub was the best thing they’ve ever done for themselves & their family.

Hearing “cure” stories-cured my back pain, my arthritis, whiplash, etc.

Hearing from police men injured in the line of duty say that the hot tub really helped them. We had one policeman who jumped off a 1-½ story building in pursuit of a suspect. He had spine and neck injuries. When he came in, he could not turn his head on his neck, he had to move his whole body. After a month he came back in, and demonstrated how he had to move his whole body to turn his head. Then laughed and showed us that he could now turn his head on his neck.

We all laughed & cried. It was so amazing.

Hearing about family togetherness, especially when teens and parents talk in the hot tub. One man took me aside and said in an astonished voice, “Last night in the hot tub was the first time my son and I have talked since he turned 13 two years ago!”

We’ve said that our stores sound like Lourdes. But it’s not a miracle cure; it’s regular hot tubbing.

Hearing from soldiers in training that having a hot tub got them through basic training, which is hard, beyond belief. Training has to be harder than combat they say so that their survival rate is higher.

Creating a surprise for a birthday, anniversary, Christmas or return from Iraq or Afghanistan. We’ve had emails from soldiers in Iraq who wanted to surprise their wives on their birthdays by having a hot tub delivered because they couldn’t be there in person, but each one wanted his wife to know he loved her, was thinking of her and wanted her to be warm thinking of him!

What is the one thing about the industry that you don’t really like?

Schlock-poorly made products. Bad mouthing-the worst. How does that make you look, if you’re bad mouthing someone? Unethical practices at fairs & shows-such as taking a deposit and never delivering the product. I’m constantly amazed at what people in the industry try to sell for good money-junk with no warranty that costs a fortune to heat and breaks down quickly. Does that give consumers confidence in the industry? NO. I’m heartened, though, by people who bought junk the first time, but come in to buy something better after learning the lesson “You get what you pay for”. They’ll tell us all kinds of horror stories about their first hot tub, but, you know what? They still want one!! Even after all of the hassles, they want a hot tub for all of the relaxation and pain relief they know it can deliver. That’s faith!

Tell us a fun or interesting story about your time in the spa industry. Perhaps a customer you’ve helped or an event you were at.

One thing popped into my mind recently. A few years ago I got a call from a man who was in the hospital, but was soon getting out and wanted a hot tub there at his home ready for him. He sounded upbeat, excited and well. Great. He asked that someone come to the hospital to sell him one. Great. So, we had a salesman at a show that was near the hospital. I called him and asked him to stop by the hospital, “Find the fellow’s room and sell him a hot tub, I said.”

When the salesman, Kevin, went to the hospital & got the room number, he saw a knot of people standing in the hall-in front of the fellow’s room as it turned out. He started to go into the room, when this group demanded to know who he was and what he wanted. “I’m here from Olympic Hot Tub to sell Mr. X a hot tub, he said.” This group turned out to be relatives who started yelling that Mr. X was dying and “You’re a ghoul for trying to sell a hot tub to a dying man.” They started hitting him with rolled up newspapers, magazines, whatever they had in hand. They where that mad.

Bottom line. It turned out that Mr. X. believed he was getting better and that the hot tub was a beacon of hope that he could cling to. “If I have a hot tub waiting for me, I’ll surely get better,” he reasoned. The relatives were looking at their inheritance and didn’t want any expenditure that would cut into it. Mean spirited, really. Thinking about having a hot tub when he got home, really cheered Mr. X up and made him feel better.

Another time, right before Christmas, a man called and asked if we had X model in stock. I said yes. He hung up after saying that “I have to ask Santa.” Two seconds later, the phone rang. Before I could even say “Olympic Hot Tub Company”, the same man said, “Santa said yes.” He brought his pick up truck an hour later and picked it up.

For more information about Alice and her award winning company, visit Olympic Hot Tub.